64.057 - Using Social Analysis Methods to Understand Education Interest Group Political Activity

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Social capital has long been recognized as an important dimension of political activity and social network methods are increasingly being used to understand it in educational contexts. Even so, educational policy researchers lag behind other fields in the application of innovative social analytic techniques by which to investigate the political activity of individuals and advocacy groups which seek to influence education policy. In this symposium we examine three different studies that use innovative research methods to explore social dimensions of the political activity surrounding education policymaking. The session is designed to spark a conversation amongst education policy researchers about the research implications of using these and other social investigatory techniques to understand different and important aspects of policy discourse.

Sub Unit

• Division L - Educational Policies and Politics / Division L - Section 1: Governance, Finance, and Intergovernmental Relations

Chair

• Jonathan A. Supovitz, University of Pennsylvania

Papers

• Power to the People?! The Influence of Social Media on (Educational) Policy Processes - Martin Rehm, University of Education Weingarten; Frank Cornelissen, University of Amsterdam

• Evidence Use in Advocacy Coalitions: A Discourse Network Analysis of the Policy Innovators in Education Network - Joseph J. Ferrare, University of Kentucky; Laura Carter-Stone, Vanderbilt University

• The Collective Sentiments of Education Advocacy Groups - Jonathan A. Supovitz, University of Pennsylvania

Discussant

• Alan J. Daly, University of California - San Diego